The Competing Aesthetics of Socialist Realism and Neorealism in four DEFA Films of the 1950s: Portrayals of Socialism in the GDR

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2003-10
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Abstract
After the establishment of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1949, the ruling Socialist Unity Party (SED) sought to promote socialism through art, literature, and film. In March of 1951, the Central Committee of the SED declared socialist realism the official state literature of the GDR. Film was a vehicle that enabled the SED to promote the socialist realist aesthetic to the citizens of the GDR. The film company of East Germany was known as DEFA, or Deutsche Film AG. The Soviets established DEFA immediately after the war to promote communist ideology in the occupied sector. In 1947, the Soviets transferred control of DEFA to the Germans where it always remained under the close scrutiny of the SED. As I will demonstrate in this thesis, the political climate of the GDR had a direct affect on the reflected aesthetics of DEFA films. The purpose of this project is to examine the competing aesthetics of socialist realism and neorealism in DEFA film. In my research, I will explore four films produced by DEFA in the 1950's. Using textual analysis, I will show that despite the enormous differences in style, both styles share common elements that result in the hero choosing life in the GDR over life in the West. Additionally, I will demonstrate that the neorealist films incorporated virtues found in the socialist realist films, and examine how gender affects the actions of the characters. I plan to analyze The Story of a Young Couple (Kurt Maetzig, 1952), Destinies of Women (Slatan Dudow, 1952), A Berlin Romance (Gerhard Klein and Wolfgang Kohlhaase, 1956) and Berlin Schonhauser Corner (Klein and Kohlhaase, 1957). All four films take place in Berlin and the East-West conflict is a central theme in each film. The purpose of my research is to challenge the opinion that neorealist films of the mid 1950's denounced socialism. Instead, I will demonstrate that despite their disparities in style, the two types of films shared common motivators that convinced the protagonists to choose life in the GDR. As previously mentioned, the motivators include politics, economics, a positive role model, and romance. While the motivators serve to persuade the characters that the West is inferior, there are also certain factors shared by all four films that demonstrate to the viewer that the goals were not to contradict the practice of socialism in the GDR. This research will show that the four films are unified by the inclusion of hard working protagonists who are influenced by nurturing role models and who are able to look to their futures in the GDR with hope and optimism.
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Thesis (M.Lib.St..) -- Indiana University South Bend, 2003.
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Socialist realism in motion pictures, Motion pictures--Germany (East)--History--20th century
Citation
Benchik, M.H. (2003). The Competing Aesthetics of Socialist Realism and Neorealism in Four DEFA Films of the 1950s: Portrayals of Socialism in the GDR (Unpublished master’s thesis). Indiana University South Bend, South Bend, Indiana.
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